Glen’s gift of sight

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: It was a reunion of sorts for 77-year-old Betty Kamalawathie, who after 25 years met a man who had received her son’s cornea.
Betty says she can almost see Glen when she looks into Natarajan’s eyes.
Glen Laxman Jayawardena was only 14 when he was knocked down by a bus on Jalan Pudu on May 3, 1981. He and three other students were returning home from tuition.
According to his brother, Leslie Tilak, now 45, Glen suffered internal injuries and slipped into a coma at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital. He died at 4am on May 11.
Glen was only 10 when he and the entire Jayawardena family, the parents and five children, pledged their corneas for donation.
"I can almost see him (Glen) when I look into Natarajan’s eye," said Betty when she met G. Natarajan, one of the recipients, after 25 years at a reunion in Leslie’s house in Cheras yesterday.
Natarajan, 64, was 37 years old and working as a rubber tapper when he lost his right eye in an accident in 1979. He had been on the waiting list for two years before receiving Glen’s cornea on May 12.
"We wanted to surprise our mother and through the help of a friend managed to locate Natarajan and made arrangements for him to join us.
"We are Buddhists and since my brother’s death, every year on May 11, my family would visit several temples where we give donations and food," said Leslie.
"Coincidentally, May 11 is also a day before Wesak Day, which makes it all the more meaningful."
He also said the family would publish a book on organ and eye donation, with his mother providing most of the input.
Natarajan, who has eight children and now works as a helper in the Tanjong Malim market, said meeting Glen’s family, especially the mother, was "just great".
"I never thought I would ever see them again. Since receiving the cornea, I have had no problems and till today do not even use spectacles.
"Many people told me a corneal transplant would only last between five and seven years, but I have had no problems," he said.
After Glen died, his corneas were removed at 7am the same day and the first recipient was Sardar Ali Alliah, a watchman in a shoe factory, who was 56 years old at the time. He has since died.
Sardar was born blind in one eye, while the sight in his other eye began failing when he was 50.
"We visited Sardar and Natarajan twice after their transplants, but lost touch with them after that. This is the first time we are meeting Natarajan after 25 years," Leslie said.
According to news reports, Glen was the first Malaysian corneal donor, with previous transplants involving corneas supplied by the International Eye Bank in Colombo.
Since Glen, the oldest organ donor reported in Malaysia was 78 years old, while the youngest was a two- and-a-half-year-old whose kidneys and corneas were donated to other children.
In June 1981, Glen was posthumously bestowed the Guinness Stout Effort Award.
Leslie said the number of organ donors in Malaysia was still very low, and hoped Glen’s story would motivate more people to become donors.
Some 700 people needed corneal transplants last year, but there were only 22 corneal donations.